Laura Entwisle is a fan of barbecue but confesses she’s not much of a grill master. So when a new barbecue restaurant opens, Laura is always happy to give it a try.

Laura says she headed over to Wilson’s Chuck Wagon, on West Kearney Street, not long after it opened. She loved the homemade barbecue sauce and the pulled pork, she says, but was disappointed they were out of smoked chicken the day she visited.

So we planned a return trip, and this time, she got the chicken.

Laura's take

It takes a while to digest everything on the menu board at Wilson’s Chuck Wagon. In addition to smoked beef, pork and chicken, there are a number of sandwiches, hamburgers and sides to choose from

Laura, of course, knows immediately what she wants: the barbecued chicken dinner ($12.99), which comes with two side dishes and two dinner rolls. Laura opts for the potato salad and coleslaw.

When the chicken arrives, Laura’s eyes get wide. “The size of this is huge. I mean, this is a big chicken,” she says.

It is, indeed, a big chicken — half of one, anyway. Laura dives in and remarks on its juiciness.

“The white meat is delicious. It’s not dry, which often is the case,” she says. Too often, she says, barbecued chicken suffers from being left in the smoker too long, rendering it more of a chicken jerky than the succulent poultry she prefers. This chicken is smoked just the way she likes it.

“It’s not a harsh smoky flavor. It’s got its own flavor,” she says.

Laura praises the sides, as well, but particularly the coleslaw. “It tastes homemade, and the carrots and the cabbage make it really tasty,” she says.

But it’s the homemade sauce she goes on about. “I really love the barbecue sauce. It’s sweet, it has a tang, but it’s not overpowering,” she says.

Laura is thrilled she’s found a good place for barbecued chicken.

“This is nice because I really like barbecue chicken, but I don’t grill myself. It’s so hard to find,” she says.

Jan's take

I grew up on a farm where we raised beef cattle and pigs. In the summer, my dad had something on the smoker more often than not. So I’ve learned a little about all the things that can happen with smoked meats, good and bad.

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Among the things I’ve learned is that restaurant barbecue can be a roll of the dice. I’ve had everything from ribs that were “smoky” only by virtue of the hot tub of smoke-flavored sauce they were boiled in to truly brilliant pulled pork that had been afforded hours in a slow-cooking smoker.

Where Wilson’s Chuck Wagon landed in that spectrum, I couldn’t guess. But I was happy to give the place a try.

I was happier still when my barbecued pork dinner ($8.49) arrived. Large, tender chunks of pork sporting that telltale pink smoke ring and a nice bit of char were piled high and served with baked beans, coleslaw and a couple of dinner rolls. I’m pleased to note, too, the rolls were served with real butter. Yes, saturated fat is a concern. But if I’m already indulging in smoky pork goodness, I’m not going to eat a roll slathered with butter-flavored oil; I’m going to eat butter. But that’s a rant for a different article.

The pork was, in a word, delicious. It was tender, moist and smoky, but not overly so. And the sauce was terrific. The sweet was nicely balanced with the tart and it had just a bit of a spicy kick, yet it didn’t overwhelm the flavor of the meat. Sometimes when you use barbecue sauce, all you taste is the sauce. That is not the case with Wilson’s.

The sides were plenty tasty, as well, but the meat was definitely the star of the show. It’s also worth noting that while I am not a delicate eater, there was more than enough left over for a second meal.

The dish, the restaurant

Raymond “Boots” Wilson and wife Kay know quite a bit about the restaurant game in general and smoked meats in particular.

“My husband and I owned Pappy’s Place back in the ’90s. He’s always wanted to do another restaurant,” Kay says. “… We’d owned this property for a few years, and he decided to go ahead and try burgers and barbecue. Those are our favorites.”

Kay says the pork and the beef brisket spend 13 hours in the smoker before hitting patrons’ plates. Ribs and chicken get five or six hours. And everything is made from scratch.